Lasting machine



Nov. 23, 1954 H. LANE LASTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 3, 1951 In venior Harold L an e United States Patent LASTING MACHINE Harold Lane, Leicester, England, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 3, 1951, Serial No. 249,488

Claims priority, application Great Britain November 23, 1950 12 Claims. (Cl. 12-1) This invention relates to lasting machines, and particularly to improvements in lasting machines of the type disclosed and claimed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,411,827, issued on November 26, 1946, in the name of Joseph Fossa. It will be understood, however, that this invention is not limited to use in machines of the exact mechanical construction disclosed in the aforementioned patent.

Although machines of the above-mentioned type have proved to be quite satisfactory in use for cement lasting shoes and particularly for performing the so-called cover lasting operation, referred to in the Fossa patent, some difficulty is, at times, encountered, where the adhesive applied to the inside face of the lasting margin of the stock, e. g., the platform cover, and to the marginal portion of the shoe-bottom member, e. g., the platform, finds its way between the lasting margin of the stock and the marginal edge of the shoe-bottom member. When this occurs, the lasting margin of the stock may adhere quite firmly to the marginal edge of the shoe-bottorn member and render the proper tensioning thereof, by the gripper of the machine, very difiicult, if not impossible. To overcome this difiiculty, it has been a common practice, before presenting a shoe to the machine to be lasted, for the operator, or some other person, to separate the lasting margin of the stock from the marginal edge of the shoe-bottom member by hand and, thereafter, by a careful handling of the shoe, to avoid readherence of these parts.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide improvements in a lasting machine of the aforementioned type which will enable the machine to perform the lasting operation in an eflicient and wholly satisfactory manner, regardless of any premature adherence of the lasting margin of the stock to the marginal edge of the shoebottom member, and thereby eliminate the need for any prior hand operation to separate these parts. With this object in view, and in accordance with a feature of the invention, the herein illustrated machine is provided with means for separating the lasting margin of the stock from the marginal edge of the shoe-bottom member. More particularly, the shoe-bottom rest of the herein illustrated machine is of an improved shape and location, relatively to the jaws of the reciprocating gripper, and means are provided for oscillating the shoe-bottom rest forwardly and rearwardly, toward and away from the marginal edge of the shoe-bottom member, in predetermined time relation to the operation of the reciprocating gripper. In its rearmost position, the improved shoe-bottom rest projects somewhat beyond the marginal edge of the bottom of the shoe being lasted and, during its oscillating movements as it is moved toward its rearmost position, the shoe bottom rest will engage the lasting margin of the stock and, if the stock had been previously adhered to the marginal edge of the shoe-bottom member, will separate these parts thereby facilitating the subsequent tensioning of the stock by the gripper. Such oscillating movements of the shoe-bottom rest also tend to reduce the frictional resistance to movement of the shoe in the direction of feed and thus facilitate the feeding of the shoe by the presser-feed-foot. Preferably, and in the herein illustrated machine, the extent of reciprocating movements of the gripper is increased somewhat to compensate for the different position of the'shoe-bottom-rest when the jaws close on the stock and begin their tensioning movement.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will appear in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and will be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a lasting machine embodying the features of this invention; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of certain of the operating parts of the machine.

The machine illustrated in these drawings is similar to that shown in the aforementioned Fossa patent, modified in certain respects as will appear below in accordance with the disclosure of United States Letters Patent No. 2,476,970, issued on July 26, 1949, also in the name of Joseph Fossa. Thus this machine has a gripper, including a rear jaw 2 and a front jaw 4 for seizing the lasting margin of the stock and applying lasting stress thereto, a presser-feed-foot 6 for pressing the lasting margin of the tensioned stock down onto the bottom face of the shoe-bottom member, and a feed-retaining member 8 for holding the shoe against retrograde movement during the return or back-feeding movement of the presser foot, and a shoe-bottom rest It The shoe-bottom rest 10, which is of a modified shape, as shown in Fig. 2, is adjustably secured, by means of screws 12, 12, to a carrier 14 which is pivotally supported on a shaft 16, mounted in forwardly extending portions 18 of the head casting of the machine, one of which is broken away in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Also journaled on this shaft is a lever 28 having an upstanding arm 22 which carries a plunger 24. This plunger is backed up by a compression spring 26 which constantly urges it into engagement with an upwardly extending arm 28 of the carrier 14, a screw 32 being provided for regulating the tension of the spring 26. The lever 20 has a depending arm 21 in which there is threaded a screw 30 which is adapted to engage a laterally extending abutment 23, formed on the carrier 14. As will be apparent, with the arrangement so far described, the shoe-bottom-rest 10, carrier 14 and lever 20 are mounted for oscillation, as a unit, about the axis of the shaft 16, movement of the shoe-bottom-rest in one direction, i. e., to the left in Fig. 1, being effected positively through the action of the screw 30 and the abutment 23, while movement in the opposite direction is effected yieldingly, through the action of the plunger 24, spring 26 and arm 28 on the carrier. It will also be understood that the relative positions of the carrier 14 and lever 20 may be changed by manipulation of the screw 30.

For oscillating the carrier 14 and the shoe-bottom rest 10, the lever 20 is provided with a second depending arm 34 to which there is connected one end of a rod 36. The other end of this rod is connected to one arm of a lever 38 which is pivotally mounted on a stud 40. The other arm of this lever is connected, by means of a pin 42, to an eccentric strap 44. This eccentric strap is mounted on an eccentric 45 carried by the main drive shaft of the machine (this shaft corresponding to the drive shaft 52 of the machine illustrated in the aforementioned Fossa patents). Accordingly, when the machine is operating the shoe-bottom rest 10 will be oscillated, moving first away from its rearmost position in which it is shown in Fig. 2 and forwardly of the machine, toward the operator, and then returning to this position by a rearward movement away from the operator.

In the machines illustrated in the mentioned Fossa patents, treadle-operated mechanism is provided which is arranged, when the treadle is depressed, to swing the shoe-bottom rest to its operative position and to start the tensioning action of the gripper jaws and, when the treadle is released, to effect withdrawal of the shoebottom rest from operative position and to hold the front gripper jaw in its extreme forward position, thereby discontinuing the tensioning action of the gripper jaws. For thus moving the shoe-bottom rest 10 of the herein illustrated machine to and from its operative position, a lever 48 is journaled on the shaft 16 and this lever carries an adjustable abutment screw 50 which is in line with the arm 28 of the carried 14. Connected to a rearwardly extending part 52 of the lever 48 is one end of a link 54, the other end of which is connected to a hub member 56 (this link and hub member corresponding to the link 186 and the hub member 1% of the machine disclosed in the Fossa Patent No. 2,476,970). This hub member is secured to a rockshaft 57 (corresponding to the shaft 192 of the mentioned Fossa patent) which also carries a lever 59 (corresponding to the lever 194 of Fossa), and connected to this lever is a link 58 (corresponding to the link 196 of the mentioned Fossa patent). With this arrangement, as in the machine of the mentioned Fossa patent, when the treadle, not shown, is depressed, the shoe-bottom rest will be shifted into its operative position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. However, when the treadle is released, the link 58 will be moved upwardly by aspring, not shown, thereby swinging the lever 48 in a clockwise direction. As a result of such swinging movement of the lever 48, the screw 50 will engage the arm 28 and rotate the carrier 14 in a clockwise direction, against the resistance of the spring 26, thereby moving the shoe-bottom rest forwardly to an out-of-the-way position. The lever 48 also has a downwardly projecting arm 60 to which there is connected a link 62 which corresponds to the link (189) of the Fossa Patent No. 2,476,970, and is arranged to control the operation of the gripper jaws 2 and 4, in response to movements of the machine treadle, in a manner explained in the Fossa patent.

The eccentric 45 is so disposed angularly on the drive shaft 46, that the shoe-bottom-rest 10 is moved into, and maintained in, its rearmost position, as shown in Fig. 2, at the beginning, and during a part of each tensioning action of the gripper jaws 2 and 4, and is withdrawn to its forward position during the feeding action of the presser-feedfoot 6 which occurs after each tensioning action of the gripper jaws. The shoe-bottom rest is so adjusted, by manipulation of the screw 30, that when it is in its rearmost position it projects one-sixteenth of an inch, or slightly more, beyond the marginal edge of the bottom of a shoe being lasted, as well as beyond the front edge of an edge-guide roll 64. Thus, each time the shoe-bottom rest is oscillated it pushes the lasting margin of the stock away from the edge of the shoebottom member. Preferably, and in the herein illustrated machine, the gripper-operating eccentric, not shown, is provided with a somewhat greater throw so that the gripping and tensioning actions of the jaws 2 and 4 commence in a more rearward location, thus accommodating the more rearward position of the shoebottom rest when the jaws close on the stock.

The operation of the machine which has just been described is quite similarv to that of the machines disclosed in the aforementioned patents and will be briefly outlined below with reference to the lasting of the cover C of a platform or slip-lasted shoe having a platform P. When the machine is at rest, and before the treadle is depressed, the shoe-bottom rest 10 and the front gripper jaw 4 will be in their extreme forward positions. The shoe to be lasted is presented to the machine with the lasting margin of the cover C behind the shoe-bottom rest and with the edge of the shoe-bottom member, and vertically extending portion of the lasting margin of the cover, in contact with the edge-guide roll 64. When the treadle is depressed, the shoe-bottom rest is moved into its operative position so that the eccentric 45 will, on.its next rotation, move it to its rearmost position, see Fig.v 2, thereby pushing the lasting margin of the cover C away from the marginal edge of the platform P. The modified shape of the shoe-bottom rest illustrated in the drawings facilitates such action of the shoe-bottom rest inasmuch as no portion of the shoe-bottom rest extends beneath the gripper jaws 2 and 4 or directly in line with the front edge of the guide roll 64. Upon depression of the treadle the tensioning action of the gripper jaws is started. The front jaw moves to its rearmost position and then the rear jaw commences to move forward, bending the lasting margin of the cover C around the edge of the shoe-bottom rest toward the shoe and stretching it somewhat diagonally over the corner of the shoe-bottom rest. By now the shoe-bottom rest will be moving forwardly toward the mid portion of the shoe, but at a somewhat slower rate than the gripper jaws, which soon grip the lasting margin and draw it tightly over the shoe-bottom rest and inwardly over the shoe-bottom, i. e., the platform P. Because of the continued rotation of the eccentric 45, the shoe-bottom rest will-have retreated sufiiciently so as not to project over the edge of the shoe-bottom member by the time the gripper is exercising its maximum tension on the stock, i. e., the cover C. At the conclusion of the tensioning action of the gripper jaws, the presser-feed-foot 6 presses the overlasted margin of the cover against the bottom face of the platform and, while the feed-retaining member 8 is raised and the shoe-bottom rest is more or less fully withdrawn forwardly, the shoe is fed along by the presserfeed-foot, the gripper jaws 2 and 4 having, by this time, opened to release the stock. The feed-retaining member 8 now moves into engagement with the overlasted margin of the cover C and holds the shoe against retrograde movement as the presser-feed-foot returns to its original position.

It has been found that, at least for some classes of work, that an extent of reciprocating movement of the shoe-bottom rest which is particularly desirable is approximately three-sixteenths of an inchand anappropriate setting of the shoe rest relatively to the carrier is that which causes the rearward edge of the shoe-bottom rest to project approximately three thirty-seconds of an inch beyond the edge of the guide roll when the shoebottom rest is in its rearmost position. With this setting of the shoe-bottom rest, the eccentric which actuatesthe shoe-botom rest will preferably be so disposed on the drive shaft that the shoe-bottom rest is in its rearmost position at the time when the gripper closes on the lasting margin, and begins its tensioning action, and will have retreated, or moved forwardly, approximately to the edge of the shoe-bottom member by the time the gripper is exerting its maximum pull on the stock.

After the stock has been tensioned by the gripper, the feed foot engages the bottom of the shoe and commences to move laterally to feed the shoe one step through the machine, the gripper being opened to release the lasting margin of the stock just as the feed of the shoe commences. The shoe-bottom rest continues its forward retreating movement during the early part of the feeding action of the presser-feed-foot, and will have completed its forward-retreating movement by the time the half-way point of the feed of the shoe is reached. As the feed foot completes the second half of its feeding movement, the shoe-bottom rest will have started its rearward movement and will be, at least approximately, in a position in which its rear edge is in line with the marginal edge of the shoe-bottom member; when the feeding movement of the shoe has been completed. Thereafter, the shoe-bottom rest continues its rearward movement; pushing the lasting margin of the stock away from the edge of the shoe-bottom member in a manner described above, the feed footreturns to its original position, and the rear gripper jaw advances to grip the stock between it and the front gripper jaw at the beginningofthe next tensioning action of the gripper jaws.

The oscillating movement of the shoe-bottom rest also assists in the feeding of the Work by relieving the rearward thrust which would otherwise be exerted by the shoe-bottom rest on the lasting margin of the stock during the feeding movement of the shoe and thereby eliminates the friction between the shoe-bottom rest and the lasting margin of the stock. In addition, inasmuch as the shoebottom rest is located approximately underneath the pivot point about which it swings, when it is in its rearmost position, each time the shoe-bottom rest moves forwardly, it swings in an are which tends to lift the shoe-bottom rest away from the bottom of the shoe. This effects an anpreciable reduction in the friction of the shoe rest on the bottom of the shoe, and to a large extent, avoids the frictional drag of the shoe-bottom rest during the feeding of the shoe. During the operation of the machine a momentary release of the treadle is desirable if the operator notices the approach of a portion of the shoe where the lasting margin of the stock has already been secured to the shoe-bottom member, as for example by a pulling over tack, since the shoe-bottom rest is thuscaused to retreat momentarily and thus avoid interference with the pulling-over tack. The ability of the shoe-bottom rest to yield forwardly, i. e., away from the edge of the bottom of the shoe, is particularly advantageous when a fold in the lasting margin of the stock is encountered or if the stock is too stilfto be deflected rearwardly when the shoebottom' rest moves to its rearmost position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A lasting machine having, in combination, means for tensioning the stock to be i..sted, a shoe rest mounted for oscillating movement toward and away from a position in which a portion thereof projects beyond the marginal edge or the shoe bottom, in the vicinity of said tensioning means, and mechanism for oscillating said shoe rest, during the operation of the machine.

2. A lasting machine having, in combination, means for tensioning the stock to be lasted by pulling its lasting margin inwardly from the edge of the bottom of a shoe, a member mounted for movement toward and away from a position in which a portion thereof projects beyond the marginal edge of the shoe bottom, in the vicinity of said tensioning means, and mechanism for oscillating said member.

3. A lasting machine having, in combination, an intermittently operating gripper for tensioning the stock to be lasted by pulling its lasting margin inwardly from the edge of the bottom of a shoe, a member mounted for movement toward and away from a position in which a portion thereof projects beyond the marginal edge of the shoe bottom, in the vicinity of said tensioning means, and mechanism for oscillating said member in predetermined time relation to the action of said gripper.

4. A lasting machine having, in combination, an intermittently operating gripper for tensioning the stock to be lasted by pulling its lasting margin inwardly from the edge of the bottom of a shoe, a member mounted for movement toward and away from a position in which a portion thereof projects beyond the marginal edge of the shoe bottom, in the vicinity of said tensioning means, and mechanism for oscillating said member in predetermined time relation to the action of said gripper, said oscillating mechanism including a yieldable connection for moving said member toward said position and a positive connection for moving said member away from said position.

5. A lasting machine having, in combination, a mov able shoe-bottom rest arranged to engage the bottom of a shoe being lasted adjacent to the marginal edge thereof and adapted, in one position, to project beyond the edge of the bottom of the shoe, means for tensioning the stock to be lasted by pulling its lasting margin inwardly from the edge of the shoe bottom and over said shoe-bottom rest, and means for oscillating said shoe-bottom rest toward and away from said position, during the operation of the machine.

6. A lasting machine having, in combination, a movable shoe-bottom rest arranged to engage the bottom of a shoe being lasted adjacent to the marginal edge thereof and adapted, in one position, to project beyond the edge of the bottom of the shoe, a power-operated gripper for tensioning the stock to be lasted by pulling its lasting margin inwardly from the edge of the shoe bottom and over said shoe-bottom rest, and means for oscillating said shoe-bottom rest toward and away from said position, during the operation of the machine.

7. A lasting machine having, in combination, a movable shoe rest arranged to engage the bottom of a shoe being lasted adjacent to the marginal edge thereof and mounted for oscillating movement toward and away from a position in which a portion thereof projects beyond the edge of the bottom of the shoe, an intermittently operating gripper for tensioning the stock to be lasted, and means for oscillating said shoe-bottom rest toward and away from said position in predetermined time relation to the operation of said gripper, during the operation of the machine.

8. A lasting machine having, in combination, a movable shoe-bottom rest arranged to engage the bottom of a shoe being lasted adjacent to the marginal edge thereof and adapted, in one position, to project beyond the edge of the bottom of the shoe, an intermittently operating gripper for tensioning the stock to be lasted by pulling its lasting margin inwardly from the edge of the shoe bottom and over said shoe-bottom rest, and means for oscillating said shoe-bottom rest toward and away from said position in predetermined time relation to the operation of said gripper, during the operation of the machine.

9. A lasting machine having, in combination, a movable shoe-bottom rest arranged to engage the bottom of a shoe being lasted adjacent to the marginal edge thereof and adapted, in one position, to pro ect beyond the edge of the bottom of the shoe, means for tensioning the stock to be lasted by pulling its lasting margin inwardly from the edge of the shoe bottom and over said shoe-bottom rest, and power-operated means for oscillating said shoebottorn rest toward and away from said position, during the operation of the machine, said oscillating means including a yieldable connection for moving the shoe-bottom rest toward said position and a positive connection for moving said shoe-bottom rest away from said position.

10. A lasting machine having, in combination, a movable shoe-bottom rest arranged to engage the bottom of a shoe being lasted adjacent to the marginal edge thereof and adapted, in one position, to project beyond the edge of the bottom of the shoe, a power-operated gripper for tensioning the stock to be lasted by pulling its lasting margin inwardly from the edge of the shoe bottom and over said shoe-bottom rest, and power-operated means for oscillating said shoe-bottom rest toward and away from said position, during the operation of the machine, said oscillating means including a yieldable connection for moving the shoe-bottom rest toward said position and a positive connection for moving said shoe-bottom rest away from said position.

ll. A lasting machine having, in combination, a movable shoe-bottom rest arranged to engage the bottom of a shoe being lasted adjacent to the marginal edge thereof and mounted for oscillating movement toward and away from a position in which a portion thereof projects beyond the edge or the bottom of the shoe, an intermittently operating gripper for tensioning the stock to be lasted, and power-operated means for oscillating said shoe-bottom rest toward and away from said position in predetermined time relation to the operation of said gripper, during the operation of the machine, said oscillating means including a yieldable connection for moving the shoe-bottom rest toward said position and a positive connection for moving said shoe-bottom rest away from said position.

12. A lasting machine having, in combination, a movable shoe-bottom rest arranged to engage the bottom of a shoe being lasted adjacent to the marginal edge thereof and adapted, in one position, to project beyond the edge of the bottom of the shoe, an intermittently operating gripper for tensioning the stock to be lasted by pulling its lasting margin inwardly from the edge of the shoe bottom and over said shoe-bottom rest, and power-operated means for oscillating said shoe-bottom rest toward and away from said position in predetermined time relation to the operation of said gripper, during the operation of the machine, said oscillating means including a yieldable connection for moving the shoe-bottom rest toward said position and a positive connection for moving said shoe-bottom rest away from said position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 284,906 Scott Sept. 11, 1883 488,523 Keith Dec. 20, 1892 559,724 Lawrence May 5, 1896 585,675 Keith July 6, 1897 2,476,970 Fossa July 26, 1949 2,478,542 Miller Aug. 9, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 442,261 Germany Mar. 31, 1927 

